Sheen: I know what you mean, Jimmy. That's why I set out early to sabotage my highly scientific brain with cartoons and sugar.

Based on the movie Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, this CGI Nickelodeon series follows the adventures of Jimmy, a preteen genius who creates inventions in his underground lab. He, his robot dog Goddard, and fellow grade-schoolers Carl, Sheen, Libby and Cindy (and occasionally extra characters like Bolbi or Betty) save Retroville/the world from invention-induced disasters just about every episode. The show lasted from July 2002 to November 2006. It is the 16th Nicktoon, and the first to be animated using CGI.

Of interest is that the film and television series was made from consumer-grade programs. The show strains to compensate for the lack of raw technical power with very clever visuals. As per the very nature of its premise the "science" was either never explained or clearly made up.

A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Nanobots have a bad habit of taking Jimmy's orders to their most logical extreme. After being told to correct for errors and then (attemptedly) Logic Bombed with "humans' flaws are what make them perfect", they decide to delete humanity.

Aliens Speaking English: Taken to quite an extreme with not only the Yolkians, but the fact there is a "galactic television lineup" with billions of channels, all in English.

All-CGI Cartoon: Notable for being the first film and series animated entirely with off-the-shelf (as in, anyone can buy it) programs, more specifically, LightWave 3D.

Area 51: Appeared in the movie. In "The N-Men", Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl are taken to "Area 86" after they prove unable to control the superpowers that they developed from contact with space radiation.

Miss Fowl: It has come to my attention that some of our candidates have been guilty of bribery, blackmail, and MURDER!![the kids in the audience gasp] Sorry, not murder, I meant operating a zeppelin on school premises.

In "Grumpy Young Men," the boys want to buy a violent video game that has a Media Classifications describing it as "for mature players only due to violence, exaggerated mayhem, and old lady kicking."

Art Evolution: The animation in the series was a MAJOR improvement from the pilot. The show itself gradually improved in scope and visuals, which (as mentioned) was limited by consumer-grade software. Later episodes could be compared to the look of an hour-length drama vs. a studio sitcom, with other shows being more cinematic.

Ascended Extra: Sheen actually had a very minor role in the movie, basically filling out Jimmy's social circle beyond Carl, only to become exceptionally popular and a much more prominent character in the show.

Aside Glance: In "Sorry, Wrong Era", Jimmy briefly does one when Carl starts dancing calypso and singing while wearing a hula costume.

"Beach Party Mummy": Jimmy, Sheen, Carl, and Cindy were crowding around Libby to give her a makeover. Carl was the one mostly covering up the screen.

"Win, Lose, and Kaboom": At one point when fighting Meldar's robot army, the camera pans over to the right until April's mother's back fills the screen. Then the camera zooms out from, Meldar's assistant, Vandana's back.

The Bermuda Triangle: One episode takes place in the "Bahama Quadrant", which Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl visit so that Jimmy can prove them that nothing supernatural is going on there. They end up finding a super villain/scientist that appears to be the cause for odd sightings and disappearances... though the ending leaves us questioning it.

Sheen once refers to the Bermuda Triangle as the mythological North Dakota.

Betty and Veronica: An unusual example. The sweeter, more mature Betty is...well, the Betty, while the edgier and occasionally antagonistic Cindy is the Veronica. In the end he chooses the Veronica, Cindy.

Carl: Not that fresh air and ticks in your sleeping bag isn't fun, but why do we have to go camping with you, Jimmy? Jimmy: Because if you don't, I'll be forced to publish these high-definition photos of you two playing with Pomono Beach Debbie Dolls. Sheen: Pomono Beach Debbie is an action figure! She possesses special powers that can defeat any adversary ... except Ultra Lord, of course.

In the episode where Libby, Sheen, and Jimmy run for class president: Sheen blackmails Carl with an embarrassing photograph of him at a party.

Brain Wash Residue: Depending on your interpretation of the episode "Love Potion 976/J". Considering that we don't know the extent of the after effects of those love potions, you could have a nice debate on whether Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl's respective loves for Cindy, Libby, and Judy is "real".

Brawn Hilda: After time traveling into an alternate future where he is rich, Jimmy soon discovers he has a cranky, hideous nanny named "Hilgo."

Brilliant but Lazy: Why do something as simple as neatly put away your piles of pants when you can implant chips in them that do it for you? Carl and Sheen call him out on this, though.

The Bully: Butch is a typical school bully who doesn't have any friends, but an even bigger one is Terry in "Safety First".

Butt Monkey: Jimmy. His inventions usually cause troubles. And when it doesn't come to his inventions, he's picked on by those left and right. How rare is it that the main character falls under this trope?

Character Development: For a series so episodic in nature there's a surprising amount, though not in terms of learned aesops, but interpersonal relationships. Throughout the series you can note small but noticeable changes in character interaction. Especially when it comes to romantic couples.

Chekhov's Gun: The solution to the problem in the episode is usually this.

Chosen One: Sheen is called "The Chosen One" by the monks of Shangri Llama, thanks to his strange ability to put his foot behind his head. Subverted because the monks don't really believe he's the true Chosen One - they were just sick of waiting around for the real one to show up.

Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Jimmy and his parents could have been millionaires if he sold some of his inventions instead of just making them for fun.

They backfire way too much for someone to mass produce them, though.

Also, Jimmy's dad once got a job making toys, which Jimmy amped up with his technology. The first one was met with such success that he got the job... as long as he kept designing toys of that same calibre every day. Jimmy ended up exhausting himself after a few days, which led to the accident of the week; the Nanobots making a rampage on Retroville on a doll-faced toy tank that grew in size to be a real tank.

Epic Fail: After losing to many times in a gym race against Cindy, Jimmy sprays his shoes with a chemical compound to give him super speed. He runs in circles around her and showing off how fast he is, all gloating and confident, but he still lost. Why? Because he fell for the old point-and-look-behind-your-back distraction, the object of interest being a "1957 Van de Graff electrostatic generator".

Eskimos Aren't Real: Sheen is positive that ancient Egyptian curses are a myth, just like the Loch Ness Monster and North Dakota.

Expy: When they all get superpowers it is exactly the same as other well-known superheroes. Cindy has Superman flight and strength, Libby is The Invisible Woman, Sheen is The Flash and Carl...well has burps that seem like Black Canary. Jimmy was originally just turned orange, until he got angry...

The third one, Zix, talks like Jon Lovitz. A bit more devious than Jon Lovitz though ...

Quentin Smithee seems to be simply an expy of Quentin Tarantino (combined with a nod to the tendency for directors who have disowned films to credit themselves as Alan Smithee) up until we find out he's actually Professor Calamitus

Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong (Carl is impregnated with an alien child in "Who's Your Mommy?". The extra fat grows out from well, his butt - but let's not go there.)

Faeries Don't Believe in Humans Either: Pops up at the end of the sleepover episode. The climax of the episode features a series of increasingly-nonsensical Catapult Nightmares involving the various characters and a flying vampiric cannibal pizza. The final nightmare turns out to belong to an actual pizza vampire, sleeping in his pizza box; when he explains his terrible dream to his wife, she consoles him that children don't exist, everyone knows that.

Incidentally, at the end (where they had to manually switch back their memories) They found that one of the two had an extreme dislike of the other one. However Sheen said that it got too confusing reading the hilariously long name and deleted it, never getting to the end (and thus, figuring out who it belonged to). It is after that one that the two started getting closer.

Free-Range Children: The fifth grade cast behaves more like young adults/older teenagers. They run all about Retroville, hang out at the local fast food joints, and that's only what they do when not on an adventure caused by Jimmy's invention.

Girls Have Cooties: Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl all exhibit this sentiment from time to time, especially at the beginning of the series. It wears off as the show progresses, however, giving way to Distracted by the Sexy.

Goofy Print Underwear: In "When Pants Attack", Hugh runs around in a pair of white, heart-covered boxers. He can be seen wearing these (and only these!) again in "Lights! Camera! Danger!" during his Gollum impression.

Head Desk: Done by Jimmy when he couldn't think of a script for a movie.

Hilarious Outtakes: These appear out of the blue at the end of the episode "Crouching Jimmy, Hidden Sheen".

Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Sheen is mocked relentlessly for his inability to sing throughout the series - there is even a reprise song number at the end of "My Big Fat Spy Wedding", where the characters belt out in glorious harmony "We all can sing except Sheen!" Becomes beneficial in "Attack of the Twonkies" - Sheen's singing is so bad that it actually puts the Twonkies (who normally become enraged and then mutate when they hear music) to sleep.

Humans Are Morons: Meldar and most of the aliens from "'Win, Lose and Kaboom" laugh at the human contestants because it took them long to transport themselves to the game show.

Idiosyncratic Wipes: Almost every scene transitions with the show's trademark atom logo flying away and then back towards the camera, with several similar music cues to accompany it.

Idiot Hero: For a genius, Jimmy sure makes a lot of utterly stupid decisions. In fact, most of the conflict that goes on in this show is the result of Jimmy making a questionable judgment call in the first place regarding his experiments. But then again, Jimmy's lack of common sense is arguably one of the main points of the series. He may be a "genius," but he's still a child.

Limited Wardrobe: The only time a character's plain-clothes outfit changes is the episode where Libby gets a makeover, and declares that she's keeping the new look. From then on, that became the outfit she wore every episode.

Love Triangle: Betty and Cindy toward Jimmy, though the latter two would claim not to like each other.

In the Jimmy Timmy Power Hours, there was also Timmy/Cindy/Jimmy — the two boys fight over her in the second power hour ("When Nerds Collide"), but Cindy ends up in a way, going with both of them since she wished for a cross-dimensional dance party for Dimmsdale and Retroville's elementary schools so she can dance with both Jimmy and Timmy.

Carl's infatuation with Jimmy's mother.

Love Potion: Another one of Jimmy's inventions. It causes him to fall for Cindy, and Sheen for Libby. And Carl falls for Jimmy's Mom, which then goes on to become a Running Gag. Poor Carl.

Mind Screw: Jimmy traversing Carl's Dream. Being well, a dream, for the most part, it has no logic or sense. Though like most dreams, Carl sees it as perfectly normal. So Jimmy, in order to prove to him, without a doubt, that this is not the real world, does something that could possibly never happen in real life, he kisses Cindy.

Missing Mom: Sheen. Word of God says his mother died when he was young - they don't say her cause of death, however.

My Brain Is Big: Averted to an extent, with the size of Jimmy's head. A lot of characters assume that Jimmy's big head explains his extreme intelligence, but in reality he just has a gigantic hairdo.

Played straight however, in the episode "Sheen's Brain", where Sheen's intelligence increases as his head grows bigger.

My Future Self and Me: Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen all get to meet their future selves as well as future Cindy and Libby.

Naked People Are Funny: In "Jimmy Goes to College", the boy genius streaks through the halls of the Pomona School of Advanced Physics - only to find himself face to face with the elderly female patroness of the coveted Moran Grant. He quickly covers his front with a book and his backside with an exit sign.

In the movie, Sheen can be seen naked - peeing, in the shower.

Sheen: I'm peeing! In the shower! I'm still doing it! ( Pumps both hands in the air) Go go go!

Never My Fault: In "King of Mars", Cindy blames Jimmy for her brief Face-Heel Turn with Eustace, for never paying any attention to her, and after Eustace double-cross her.

Never Say "Die": In "The N-Men", Jimmy has to save himself and his friends before their "life forces" are depleted.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Nearly every episode and movie is this. Jimmy's inventions and motives usually cause the problem of the week and it's up to him to fix the problem he caused.

Of course, Jimmy's friends also get in on the act every now and then. In "The Eggpire Strikes Back" Cindy told King Goobot how to get into Jimmy's lab, giving him the tools he needed to revive Poultra.

Overly-Long Scream: Lampshaded by Carl in "The Tomorrow Boys" when Jimmy finds out in the Bad Future that he is MARRIED to Cindy. He starts screaming, we cut to commercials... We come back, and he's still screaming.

Playing Sick: Invoked by Jimmy when he invents patches that make the wearer sick when applied. He gives them to the rest of the kids so they can skip school. Until they get absorbed into their bodies, forcing Jimmy and Sheen to pull a "Fantastic Voyage" Plot into Carl to get the cure needed.

Ptero Soarer: "Sorry, Wrong Era" has a classic example in the form of a Pteranodon that, for a short list, is called a "pterodactyl", is scaly, has pointed leathery wings, can pick things up with its feet, rears its unusually large young like a bird, flies inland, eats lizards instead of fish, lives in the same time as T-Rex and is bipedal. That being said, the writers did manage to get the lack of teeth and single wing finger right (although said wing finger is unusually flexible).

Rival Turned Evil: An unusual case in "The N-Men" - Jimmy himself is this due to finally getting fed up over how Cindy keeps overshadowing him. This sets him on a Hulking Out rampaging spree, and the irony is that the only one who stops him is Cindy herself.

The exact same footage is used for this scene every time this happens. "Lady Sings the News" even Lampshades it when Jimmy and Cindy note that this has happened 15 times with Nick, and that everyone is expecting it to happen to Nick again shortly after he recovers.

The Twonkies that Sheen had after an episode appear in several later episodes; they don't morph however.

Various iterations of "the little boy's room" are used when a character has to pee, including "the little boy's ocean" by Carl when the boy's are flying over the ocean in Jimmy's hovercraft.

Carl also had his highly sensitive scapula.

Samus is a Girl: Beautiful Gorgeous. She was wearing robotic armor similar to Samus'.

Upon gaining superpowers, the Wheezer family replicate the canyon-jumping sequence seen in Hulk.

The episode where they go inside the Ultra Lord Videogame, has a interesting shout-out to "The Wizard and the Princess" note a largely forgotten Sierra Adventure game, which is the spiritual prequel to King's Quest V, and is even considered by many as "Kings Quest Zero" As the game had a infuriating puzzle, in which you had to traverse a desert find a rock, but it has to be a certain screen, or else a snake underneath would kill you.

Show Within a Show: ''UltraLord'' — Sheen is crazy over it to the point of claiming that Ultralord fills George Washington's role as the father of America.

Space Whale Aesop: The pilot episode, "When Pants Attack", has one: Always remember to be responsible and clean up after yourself, because if you don't, those pants that you forgot to pick up off your floor might become sentient and go on a mad rampage.

Sheen: Don't do it Jimmy. Don't tell him about the limitless power-source you found on Mar-(Jimmy covers his mouth)Carl: And we're not going there to get the limitless power-source if that's what your thinking- (Jimmy covers his mouth)Sheen: MARS! (beat) Sorry I just get excited.

Stalker with a Crush: Carl toward Jimmy's mom. It's shown in several episodes that he has a picture of her and Hugh. Hugh's face is obscured by Carl's taped over it. Cindy comes off like this to Jimmy In Season 3. She and Jimmy do get together in the Finale.

Taking You with Me: After being defeated, Evil Jimmy breaks the dark matter chip he used to create his evil copy of Earth, causing the entire planet to be sucked into the the dark matter dimension in an attack to take Jimmy down with him.

This is also played with in one of the episodes where Jimmy states that his script for a movie has one of the locations in 'a fictional city in Texas'. Although, in the first episode Cindy mentions that Jimmy's head is the size of Texas, to which Carl, upset, replies that his uncle is from Texas, and not that they live in Texas.

The company who does the animation on the series is itself based in Dallas.

TV Tropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy